Detective Inspector Dawson is Back!

Children of the Street

Author: Dr. Kwei Quartey

Recommended age: 16 and up.Not recommended for younger readers.

We are very curious about the continuing adventures of D.I. Darko Dawson, the crime-solving policeman who is gaining an international following as the main character of Dr. Kwei Quartey’s Ghanaian murder mysteries. After being introduced to the world in Wife of the Gods, the Inspector reappears this week in the new novel Children of the Street.

About the Book

In the slums of Accra, Ghana’s fast-moving, cosmopolitan capital, teenagers are turning up dead. Inspector Darko Dawson has seen many crimes, but this latest string of murders …is the most unsettling of his career. With time running out, Dawson embarks on a harrowing journey through the city’s underbelly and confronts the brutal world of the urban poor, where street children are forced to fight for their very survival—and a cunning killer seems just out of reach. – Random House, Inc.

About the Author

Dr. Kwei Quartey grew up in Ghana. He is a medical doctor and a writer of detective fiction. You can learn much more about him and his novel-writing process on his website.

Why we’re interested

We liked Dr. Quartey’s uncomplicated, direct style in the first book of the series, Wife of the Gods. From his website (which wins high marks from us!), we learned that he is very careful to include accurate details about past and present-day Ghana, many of which Ghanaian students would recognize. He takes the trouble to visit the real locations that feature in his novels, and to talk to people in those communities. He doesn’t shy away from raising difficult social issues, but provides a context so that the reader can understand how those issues are being confronted. Dr. Quartey’s books are not just thrillers; they are a helpful window on life in contemporary Ghana.

In Children of the Street, Dr. Quartey shines a light on one of the most important problems affecting young people in Ghana today: trying to work and survive in urban areas without family support. In addition to telling us the story behind the book, he has also taken a personal interest in supporting organizations like Street Academy, which helps street children to complete their education.